1
Dec
Wall To Wall Opportunities
Ben Hudson of Pink Estate Agents surveys the property market
landscape and finds that there is some good cheer in the run up to
Christmas.
Twenty years ago surprised but elated East and West Berliners
rose up as one and broke down the Berlin Wall. Their action altered
the political architecture of Europe. Sadly it didn’t break
down the boom and bust financial landscape of the UK. As we watched
the historic events unfold we were just beginning to feel the
effects of a deep and damaging recession. So no change there then.
The Berlin Wall may now be the stuff of history but two decades
later we don’t seem to have moved on very far in economic
terms.
1989 was at the start of a period of harsh economic adjustment.
But despite increasing unemployment and great difficulties in the
financial and industrial sectors the property market was one of the
first areas to show improvement. As we move towards 2010 there are
distinct parallels to the market behaviour all those years ago.
We do not know any more now than we did then about how long the
market will take to get back to good health – one spokesman
from a national estate agency chain has recently gone on record to
say that over the next couple of years prices could go down or they
could stay the same or they could rise. It is this sort of vacuous
comment from someone who should really know better that serves to
underline the fact that no one can predict the future in property.
But we do have history to help guide us.
It was during the period that we spent climbing out of the
economic mire in the early ‘90s that many people laid the
foundations for their financial well being over the next twenty
years – apart from a blip at the end of that decade! Then, as
now, there were great opportunities in the market for asset
growth.
But today we have the added advantage of low mortgage interest
rates. The banks may not be falling over themselves to make so many
home loans but mortgage availability is slowly getting better and
this may be the last time for many years that there are real
chances to find a wonderful home without the serious buyer
competition that goes with a market in fast-forward.
This is a market when astute buyers will make some good money as
well as find a good home. Equally there will be those who
don’t take this chance and come to regret that choice. So be
like Germany twenty years ago. Grab the chance while it’s
there. For some, like those Berliners, it will be a once in a
lifetime opportunity.